May 30, 2005

Memorial Day, 2005

Samuel Fuller, 1911-1997.

"Served as a rifleman in the U.S. 1st Infantry Division during World War II. Fuller saw action in North Africa, Sicily, Omaha Beach on D-Day, and then on through Europe to Czechoslovakia. He was awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star, and Purple Heart."

If you do the math, you'll see that Sam Fuller (one of the great American directors and fascinating iconoclast) was in his 30s when he enlisted; most of the people in his company were mere teenagers. In The Big Red One, the 1980 movie directed by Fuller concerning the amazing journey of the 1st Infantry Division during World War II, the Fuller character (called Private Zab) is portrayed by none other than Robert Carradine, a/k/a Lewis Skolnick from Revenge of the Nerds. Luke Skywalker's also in it, as well as the guy that commanded the Dirty Dozen.

The movie itself has just been restored (adding 40 minutes) and re-released as a two-disc set, and I'll be watching it today in lieu of having to hear any empty platitudes from television's talking heads. I'm not sure whether I'll watch tonight's Nightline program; it becomes a bit numbing to a guy, especially when you consider the friends and family that each of the 900 people pictured have left behind.

Fuller himself was deeply mistrustful about portraying prototypical "good guys" and "villains" in his film noir and war movies, but believed strongly in the camaraderie and simple heroism of the everyday soldier, especially when they were placed in deeply unjust or impossible situations. Another 20,000 such people shipped out from Fort Hood, Texas yesterday to go back to one of those situations, halfway across the world. Here's hoping that as many as possible escape next year's tribute from Nightline.




Posted by Norbizness at May 30, 2005 12:30 AM
Comments

Thanks for the reminder about Fuller. He's one of those great directors I think of as an afterthought, but I really shouldn't.

Posted by: roxanne at May 30, 2005 12:44 PM

More and more those are my students that are shipping out. Some couldn't finish the semester with their class, but did via email, because they were called up to ready the units for deployment.

I love that movie. It has the ring of truth. I didn't know so much about it. Thank you.

Posted by: Jaye at May 30, 2005 08:14 PM

none other than Robert Carradine, a/k/a Lewis Skolnick from Revenge of the Nerds. Luke Skywalker's also in it, as well as the guy that commanded the Dirty Dozen.

Also had Night Shift's

Leonard Carbone (Bobby Di Cicco).

Posted by: Something Polish at May 31, 2005 06:25 PM